I snort. “Thanking you? You’re lucky I haven’t
fired
you. This is my
life
you’re playing around with. Not some sick reality TV setup.”
She steps back, shocked by my outburst. “Very well, if Natalia comes back and still feels it’s a bad idea, we’ll just toss the idea away.”
“It shouldn’t have been an idea to begin with.”
She lifts her chin, and argues. “It’s my job to make things look good to the press. Every time an opportunity presents itself, of course I’m going to jump at it.”
I step away. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Kim Campos’ eyes me with a skeptical glare.
“Yes,” I admit. “I apologize when I’m wrong. You’re just doing your job, but please remember when it comes to Natalia and I, it’s a sensitive topic and I don’t play around with it. We’re working things out on our own; we don’t need the added pressure of the media. Understood?”
“I can respect that. I’m sorry too.” She looks over my shoulder. “Natalia is coming back, I’ll just apologize to her and tell her it was a dumb idea, and we’ll just cancel the entire collaboration interview.”
“Thank you,” I mouth.
Kim smiles. Natalia approaches just in time; she hands Kim her phone back. “Fine. I agree with the interview.”
“What?” I ask. Natalia agreeing to the combined interview shocks the hell out of me. “We don’t have to do this, Natalia. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. It’s not worth it.”
Natalia seems irritated, almost as if she’s being forced into this. She faces me. “No, I want to. Kim you can tell Rose Jefferson it’s a deal, but can you give Julian and me just a minute alone?”
Kim pipes up. “Sure, no problem.” Her shit-eating grin pisses me off a bit. “I’ll go let Rose know. I’ll be back when she’s ready to begin.” Kim turns on her heels and practically skips toward the door where Rose Jefferson awaits on the other end.
Natalia raises a brow; she waves a finger up to quiet me. “Julian. I’m going to do this interview, but I need you to do me a favor.”
I hesitate. “What is it?”
“If any questions come up about our current relationship, let’s just say we’re still friends. Okay?”
“You don’t want to make us public yet?”
She shakes her head. “I just want to enjoy the time I have with you. And remember, you said a few days ago we are going to just take one day at a time. I still want to; let’s just see where everything takes us.”
Yes, I’m annoyed that she doesn’t want to make us exclusive, but I also said we’ll take it a day at a time. “Okay.”
We only wait ten minutes when Kim comes back to get us. Both Natalia and I are taken to what looks like a set. It’s staged with a chair facing a love seat, and other decorative crap to glam up the space.
Rose Jefferson enters the room. She still remains small despite the heels she wears.
The last time I saw her was at my live press conference I had right out of rehab; she wore a suit that was straight out of my mom’s 90’s closet. Today she dresses more modern. I guess she’s gotten a makeover. She sure as hell needed it.
“Good morning, Natalia. Julian.” She extends her hand, shaking each of our hands. Natalia plays the good sport and smiles brightly. “Good morning, Ms. Jefferson. Thank you for having us.”
“Please, call me Rose.” She waves her hand. “Our team will set you guys up with the microphone. Then you can make yourself comfortable on the sofa. We went ahead and announced the interview with the both of you, and can I just say,” her mouth stretches so wide, her lips may crack, “the feedback we’re receiving is nuts! You two are seriously a power couple.”
Wow. They waste no time in spreading the freaking word. I take in a deep breath, because I need it. I need all the air I can get. Why does Natalia and my personal life interest so many people? We’re human, not some cage monkey people can admire and toss fruit at.
Natalia, of course, maintains her cool. She’s good at placing her differences aside for a time being and playing the good guy. I can’t. I can never hide my discomfort or anger. My facial expressions and posture gives my thoughts away within an instant. Natalia knows how to distract me from those thoughts.
I guess she sees where my mind is going, because she leans into me. Her lips broaden into the most beautiful smile you will ever lay your eyes on. She playfully bumps her shoulder into my arm, and says, “Hey, none of those negative thoughts. We’re going to kill this interview and make it our bitch.”
I want to grip her stunning face, pull her in and kiss her in front of everyone and just yell out. “Fuck it! We’re exclusive.” But I restrain myself instead.
“We’ll be on in five. Please take your seats,” the cameraman yells out.
Natalia sits first on the love seat, she’s closer to Rose’s chair, which I’m fine with. I take my place next to Natalia. Rose Jefferson lightly jogs over to her teal chair and nestles in. She adjusts the small microphone strapped along the neckline of her dress. Then she looks up at us and smiles. “Ready?”
Both Natalia and I nod.
“And, five, four, three, two . . .”
There’s a moment of silence and Rose straightens her posture. “Good morning, I’m Rose Jefferson and this is LA Weekly Live. I’m honored to announce an unexpected exclusive, which I’m truly excited for. This morning we have the beautiful and talented Natalia Rios, and her ex-husband; middle-weight professional boxer, Julian Rios.” She faces us.
I have to admit, I don’t know what stings more. The fact that she called me Natalia’s ex-husband or the fact that I’m no longer middle-weight
champion
. Natalia speaks up first. “Good morning, Rose. Thank you so much for having us.”
I force a smile, making it seem as realistic as possible. “Technically, Rose, we’re still legally married. So I’m still Natalia’s husband.”
Natalia blows out a laugh. I know deep down she wishes she can reach her hand back and slap me for that one. But she plays nice. “Yes, we’re still married, currently separated.”
Low blow
.
Jefferson finds this amusing. I can tell as her eyes gleam back and forth between Natalia and I. “Does this mean that you two are thinking of making things work?”
“For right now, we’re taking it one day at a time and just focusing on ourselves.” Natalia beats me to the punch. I allow her to have this one.
The rest of the interview goes well. Rose skips questions regarding our relationship and focuses more on our careers. Natalia does really good in her interview. She’s gotten a lot of practice. I can tell, because she’s winning me with her charm and I know she’s winning the audience over as well.
“Okay.” Rose stifles a laugh from a joke Natalia just told. “Our twitter and blog page is blowing up with questions from your fans. So now we’re going to turn the tables and read you a few things they want to know. Are you guys ready?”
“Bring it.” I toss a fist in the air. Natalia laughs, I can tell she’s loosened up a bit, she taps her hand at my knee. She has no idea what her touch does to me.
“Okay, our first question is from, LUV2SingJess. Here’s what she has to say.”
I’m such a huge fan of u both. U guys r the cutest couple eva! Is there any chance u guys will stay married? Ur perfect. Pls don’t divorce!
Now I can see why Jefferson refrained from asking questions about our relationship. She’s allowing the fans to do it. But this time I don’t allow Natalia to answer.
“That’s very nice of you. Thank you,” I start off.
“Yes, thank you . . .” Natalia states; she looks at me, her brows raised. I flash her a genuine smile and her features relax.
“I can be the first to say we’re definitely not perfect. There were issues in our marriage that tore us apart. Issues I’m not proud of, but I still care for Natalia. She will always be a major part of my life.” We both look at one another and for a second we have a moment of peace. It’s like she’s listening to me for the first time. “I don’t know where our relationship will go, but I do know I will always be there for her. I will always protect her. I loved her then. I love her now. I will love her always.”
Natalia sucks in a quivering bottom lip and slowly shuts her eyes. When she opens them, she desperately tries to hide the tears forming. She mouths to me, “Love you too, always.”
Rose Jefferson interrupts our moment. “Wow.” She clears her throat. “Let’s move on. The next question is from Leah Thomas.”
I know you guys were high school sweet hearts, but how did you exactly meet? Love you both, btw!
“I can answer this.” I straighten, adjusting my tie. “She stole my locker.”
Natalia’s mouth gaps open. Her features transform from sadden to amused in a nanosecond. “I did not steal your locker! It was assigned to me.”
“You stole it, just admit it.” I shrug, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.
She faces Rose and explains. “It was my freshmen year and everyone is assigned a locker. Julian is two years older than me, so apparently he was given the same locker every year. But
that
year, an administrator assigned me his locker. I was messing with the combination lock on the first day of school.” She giggles as she remembers every detail. “When I see this tall, handsome young man.” She waves her arm at me. I wiggle my brows and smile brightly when she calls me handsome. Natalia rewards me with a smack on my shoulder. I laugh and she goes on. “He argues that it’s his locker and demands I request a new one.”
“Yeah, and she doesn’t. Instead she decides to be my locker roomie and then stalk me the first month.”
“I did not stalk you. Get over yourself.”
I raise both hands, palms forward. “If I remember correctly, you would follow me like a lost puppy.”
“If I remember correctly, I told you I will bug you until you fall madly in love with me, and you said that would never happen, which clearly it did happen.”
“Touché.”
We go on like this back and forth for the next fifteen minutes.
Rose laughs at our banter. “I must say, seeing the two of you together—you guys are quite adorable.” We both stop laughing and face Rose. “Okay, we have one last question. This question is from MOMof3 on Twitter.”
How do u guys not allow the media to ruin ur relationship? Or is that what caused the separation?
Natalia jumps in first. “It’s difficult for any celebrity or any profession that’s always in the limelight to maintain a private relationship. We constantly share everything with the world, and our personal life is the one thing that’s sacred to us. But it can be stressful and annoying when things that are not always true are plastered everywhere.”
“So, the photos of the two of you recently together, and the rumors that you guys are
back on
are false?” Rose asks.
I go to answer, but Natalia continues. “No, they are not false. Julian and I have been spending time together. We are taking it one day at a time, but.” She turns her head and looks at me, a soft smile along her lips. I can’t help but smile too. “I love him and I’m willing to make things work.” She just made us exclusive on live television. I almost do a little Tom Cruise number and jump up and down on this sofa.
Almost
. I maintain my excitement.
Rose’s eyes widen. “Really?” Natalia and I nod. To make things even better, for the first time since we started the interview, she reaches over and places her hand in mind.
Priceless.
“That’s amazing, you really don’t see that much. And do you think with how busy both of your schedules are, it will work?”
Natalia goes on and on about our schedules, how we love each other and we will find the time to make things work. She mentions she was just asked to play a role that she’s really excited about, but cannot discuss yet and she’ll be leaving the country. She tells Rose how we both talked and talked about how we will not allow our jobs to get in the way.
And as I hear my wife speak, all I can think about is the last twelve years of our lives as a couple, Natalia has always sacrificed and placed things on hold for me, for my career. She wanted to make sure I was taken care of and happy. When have I done that for her? I think of my career and I know I’m not getting any younger, and let’s face it, I may only be thirty, but in boxing years that’s considered old. How much longer do I really have? I made my life in this career, I planted my mark. I made my money. I have several other businesses in the works to keep me floating.
So why am I still eating, breathing, and living boxing?
“I have to say something . . .” I blurt out, not exactly knowing what I’m going to say. Both Rose and Natalia look at me. I swallow, and instead of thinking I just say, “For twelve years, this woman has done everything in her power to make sure I’m well taken care of. I took care of her in ways that I thought were important. You know, with material things. But as always, Natalia has proven to me that all she’s ever wanted was my support and love. We’re not perfect,
yet
, but I want us to be happier than we ever have been before. And for that, here, right now, I’m announcing my retirement. The Merit rematch fight will be my last.”
Natalia’s eyes bug out. Rose’s mouth gapes open. Everything goes silent, until finally Rose clears her throat and looks into the camera. “Well, you all heard it here first. Julian Rios has confirmed retirement after his next fight. Thank you all for joining me, Julian, and Natalia today. I wish you all the best.”
Then it’s over. I let out a breath when the director calls out “Cut!” I didn’t realize I was holding in so much air. Rose Jefferson shakes both our hands and thanks us again. She says it went better than her expectations and we are welcome back any time. Kim jumps up and down, poking a thumbs up in the air as her phone is glued to her ear and she chats away to God knows who.
Natalia stare hasn’t broke away from me since I made the announcement. “Julian . . .” she expresses, her tone low. “I don’t want you to do this for me. I don’t want you to hold resentment.”
“I could never resent you. I’ve done my time and you were there for me every step of the way. I want to be there for you and support you through your career.”
“But you can. You don’t have to quit boxing to support me,” she stresses.